(no subject)

[doyle]

Maybe my expectations were unreasonably high due to PJ Hammond's reputation and his episode last year, but god, that Torchwood episode was rubbish. Really nice idea, with the sinister circus folk coming to life from film - I don't mind that it was a magic plot, I'd rather leave it as 'a wizard did it' than have an "as you know, these are actually advanced aliens from planet Zipulon VI" exposition - but it would've been much scarier if we'd just seen them advancing on the woman, rather than having an interminable chat with her, then bottling her breath in the flask... it means Torchwood's about 20 minutes behind the audience, and when they finally catch up with someone who knows what's going on we have to listen to a description of what we've already seen. And wasn't that convenient, that Jack repeated the catchphrase in front of the one nurse who'd worked with the old woman and who had no niggling qualms about patient confidentiality? Then we get to see the Ghostmaster and the mermaid wandering around in daylight, looking perfectly normal and non-sinister, having more interminable chats among themselves, where they exposition about stealing people's life into the flask. Again.

No emotional continuity at all. Gwen's apparently back from honeymoon, but for all we know the wedding might have been a week ago or three years. Or maybe we've jumped back in time. The only way we know this whole episode isn't a season 1 flashback (it'd fit with the 'and loads of civilians, including children, died' ending) is that Owen's dead - which is used in exactly the same way as it was last week, with a monster going to attack him and then recoiling. There's hardly any sort of characterisation going on; you could make Gwen instead of Ianto the main character and not change a line.

Oh, and people in the dark days before TV and the internets must have been easily impressed if a woman waving her arms around qualifies her as a mermaid. She could have at least been underwater or something. I would have wanted my thrupenny bit back. Humph.

Thank god I have the OG to tell me that I'm only complaining because I'm a Jack/Ianto fanbrat crying about the lack of sex and/or hate Gaimanesque fantasy, though, because there's no possible reason that people could dislike the episode on its own merits.

Comments

[airawyn.livejournal.com]

It had so much potential. And then it was just exposition after exposition, hardly any actual plot.

Also, it's very common for old film to smell like photo chemicals. Nothing mystical about it.

[pontisbright.livejournal.com]

I too had bonkersly high expectations. I definitely liked it more than you (pretty! shiny! easily distracted!) but there was just something strangely incoherent about the whole thing even on first viewing, like it was two different not-very-good shows spliced together - and the more I think about it, the more I find things that were just poorly done.

That scene in the hospital with the Exposition Nurse was unspeakable.

Oh, poo.

[lonelybrit]

Oh good it wasn't just me who was disappointed.

It was a really, really good premise and I love the idea of a creepy ghost story. But it needed a sense of team to go with it, and the dialogue made me wince - again it worked on paper, but onscreen not so much, there's only so many times I'll forgive the characters repeating what has just happened. And as you say, no character was really individual, anyone could have been anyone.

I have to say, what really got my got was the nurse overhearing a snippet, and then volunteering the patient name, patient history and the place of treatment. I'm sorry but just... no. The most basic editor should have picked up on that and at least inserted some line wherein the staff are told that TW have clearance or something to explain why they are happy to share everything without question. By the end of the ep I was just turning off my brain and just enjoying the pretty visuals, because that was all there really was for me. (Okay, that's a bit harsh - I did actually like the mermaid and ghost master, thought they were genuinely creepy and very very good, but even those actors couldn't rescue this one.)

[cedara]

Thank you for voicing what was missing.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

Pity, the premise sounded fascinating. (On paper.)

[beccaelizabeth]

it means Torchwood's about 20 minutes behind the audience
yeah, this ep did a different thing with pov than other eps this season, like Small Worlds had the most minutes with no Team Torchwood in them at all, and it just doesn't work right.

and *nods* a lot.

[invaderwitch.livejournal.com]

Right there with you.

Also, why couldn't Owen, Gwen, and even to an extent Ianto, figure out what Jack was doing in the freak show? I mean, it was blatantly obvious that he was shooting himself in the head, yet Gwen was joking about him doing stand-up, and Ianto was all 'ahh' when Jack revealed that he had been the man-who-can't-die. Like with the images of the Ghost Maker and Mermaid- they were so obviously missing when they played the film back, but it took Ianto several minutes to determine what was different. Felt like the prop people (or whoever) made the film without paying much attention to the dialog in the script- I can't really phrase this right, but I think I'm saying what I mean. It's too early...

But, yea. After the episode ended, I said it would have worked better as a Supernatural episode, only Sam and Dean would have handled it better. To which my boyfriend responded that yes, they would have determined the monsters were made of film, and got some film-dissolving acid to throw at them at least. Torchwood Master Plans = asdkfjhksfh huh?

[randomalia.livejournal.com]

I agree completely. And I felt like the script was plodding and overwritten. The emotional aspects, what there was of them, were shoe-horned in at the end (yay, we saved a child!) and everyone was melodramatic and useless. It just had no point. And I'm actually not surprised that this was written by PJ Hammond - from his two scripts I'm thinking he has cool ideas but poor execution.

[giglet.livejournal.com]

You know... I've been showing season 1 to my husband, explaining that the show isn't *good*, but it does provide fanservice: basically fanfic with high production values.

And given that view of Torchwood... I think we need a remix of this episode, double quick.

[tehomet.livejournal.com]

It was quite a dull episode. Normally, with Torchwood, it may not make sense but at least it's wacky/fun. This was dull.

The previous episode, with the alien!baby wedding, was hilarious. Especially the stalling chainsaw!

[ofparsnip.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad I'm not alone in not liking this one! (I'm friending you, btw -- your comments about Torchwood are fun to read!)